Stories from Friday, December 26, 2003

Can you imagine what it was like for Adam and Eve to get old? They had never seen anyone who was old. There had never been anyone older than they were. Therefore the shock must have been great the first time Adam took a good look at Eve after several years together. ...

I read all sorts of columns on the Web, trying to keep up with what other people are concerned with. I came across Richard Cohen's column Monday in the Washington Post's online edition and I had to read it a second time to be sure I wasn't hallucinating. Cohen was calling for those responsible for judging Saddam Hussein to let him live...

100 Years Ago -- December 26, 1903 Christmas, the most joyous and most important day of the holiday calendar, was appropriately, happily and universally celebrated in Nevada on Friday, Christmas Day. This is the day that typifies the hope of eternal happiness and each year the Christian world celebrates in similar manner as the giver of Christmas. ...

Louis Gordon Hoffman, 73, Sheldon, Mo., died Thursday, Dec. 25, 2003, at his home in Sheldon, following lengthy illness. He was born May 28, 1930, in Akron, Iowa, to Basil Fabian Hoffman and Gladys Edith Campbell Hoffman. He married Marjorie Joan Fields on June 25, 1982, in Miami, Okla., and she survives of the home...

Francis Marion "Frank" Meek, Jr., 80, of Richards, Mo., died Thursday, Dec. 25, 2003, at the Mercy Health Center in Fort Scott, Kan. He was born Nov. 5, 1923, in Richards, Mo., the son of Francis M. Meek and Nellie Brundridge Meek. He married Virginia Poyner on Oct. 15, 1942, in El Dorado Springs, Mo. Mr. Meek had worked for Buell Cabinet and later retired from SmiCo Norvell. He was also a longtime farmer and stockman...

Special to the Daily Mail Nevada, Mo. -- The United States Department of Agriculture, recently awarded Cecil Pritchett the USDA Certificate of Appreciation at the annual year end Osage Valley Resource, Conservation and Development Council meeting. The USDA award, presented by Leslie Michaels, the assistant state conversationalist for field operations for the National Resources Conservation Service was in recognition of Pritchett's efforts and leadership in working in the council area...

Tuesday afternoon was the initial meeting of the new after school club for eighth grade girls at Nevada Middle School. Dubbed "The PINK Ladies," which stands for Personal Interesting New Knowledge, the club's focus is on girls building their self-esteem, self-confidence, self-respect and self-image...

A lot of area people had a nicer Christmas because of Nevada's American Legion post. Around 60 area children, who otherwise might not have received any toys for Christmas, had a chance to choose two toys of their own from a wide assortment that Nevada's American Legion purchased. In addition, dozens of people had a chance to enjoy a traditional Christmas dinner...

Everyone knew that the good times weren't going to last but who knew that the fall would be so fast. On Tuesday United States Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman announced that a single case of bovine spongiform encephalopathy -- BSE or mad cow disease -- has been found in a Washington dairy herd. While the preliminary tests are not conclusive the announcement has caused a tidal wave of panicked closing of borders in the international community...